Many people these days are adding in a second job to get ahead in uncertain economic times, but the benefits of a secondary employment are not limited to an additional paycheck. Keeping busy forces you to be more productive and often reduces discretionary spending as you don't have the time to shop or go out on the town.

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One advantage of working 60-80 hours a week is that you won't have a lot of free time to kill with movies, games, or other sometimes-costly activities. I work around 70 hours a week and have trouble fitting in any recreation other than seeing friends once a week and reading library books. Working that number of hours also means you're not shopping as much and probably not as exposed to media ads as you would be otherwise.

If your second job has you taking on the role of entrepreneur or contractor you can also claim all manner of tax advantages: necessary tools and equipment, office supplies, even deducting a portion of your mortgage/rent and utilities as a home office if you qualify. Make sure you do your research before claiming any deductions!

Many of us have a somewhat unhealthy fear of an IRS audit; however, financial blogger Wise Bread…
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Working multiple jobs makes you more efficient. I had to immediately start using the organizational philosophy found in Getting Things Done, implementing text replacement tools, and tweaking my Gmail and Google Reader inboxes for efficiency. Of course, I'd planned on doing all of that for months, but when I nearly doubled my workload learning these processes jumped to the top of my to-do list.

In a regular day, most of us type the same things over and over again, wasting an enormous amount…
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Finally, don't squander your additional paycheck by adding in money leaks like extra meals out or runs to Starbucks to make up for added stress. Sure you might feel you deserve it, but you're working multiple jobs to achieve a goal and these little money leaks add up to keep you away from becoming debt free, buying a house, or going into early retirement. Photo by Andrew Wippler.